I get to have the author Rebecca Royce over at For The Love of Reading today, she's been great in writing a Guest Blog I bet you'll enjoy if you recall such a phenomenon as 'bodice-rippers'? Got you interested, huh? ;) Read on!
Conditioned prisoner Seven-Two-Four has never had a name. She cannot read, and is scheduled to die as soon as she is returned to the Institution. The Conditioned are not considered human, but Seven can see ghost energy and she can love Ben like no one ever has before.
When fate takes Seven from Ben’s arms, can he move on and find a new purpose in life or will he be forever trapped by the need to rescue those like his lost love?"
For The Love of Reading
I love the title of this blog. For The Love Of Reading. Because that is really what it has always been about for me. I LOVE to read. I always have. As a teenager, I would lose myself in books that took me far away from the reality of the teenage angst that was my high school experience. A girl with her head in the clouds who really doesn’t care about being cool was not well embraced in my high school. (But don’t those early years of problems make us really interesting adults!?!)
I like to think that I write books that I want to read. For me, it’s always about telling a really great romance while including topics or situations that I myself find compelling. Well, that and telling the stories the characters that inhabit my head want me to tell. Sometimes we authors call that our ‘muse.’
I love reading so much that I recently started to feel like I needed to reread books that I read years ago just to have a real appreciation for the art that some of these bodice ripping authors used to tell their stories. We don’t do that much anymore. (Well, maybe we do it and we now call it Forced Seduction but that’s another story all together.)
But if you really take a look at those books (And thanks to some help from some authors who like me love to read I was able to post some vague plot lines and they came up with title and author of the book, which is amazing. Thank you ladies!) they are brilliant. They have somehow managed to convince us that his seducing her out of her clothes without her really giving her consent is romantic. And somehow—although I don’t think I could write it well—it is. I love reading those books. So, we may make fun of the ‘bodice rippers’ these days but for what they were—they still hold up. In my humble opinion.
In Embraced, I tell the story of Ben LaVelle. He is a single father raising two daughter when his life is thrown into upheaval by the presence of a woman simply called Seven. She is Conditioned, not considered even human because of her psychic abilities, and yet he loves her when he should not. This is the second book in the Conditioned series, the first one called Eye Contact is also available to be read. I hope you’ll check them out and that you’ll love to read them because that is really why I write them. For the love of it.
“Does it take this much out of you every time you do it?”
“No.” She raised a dainty hand to rub at her eyes. “I was already tired. I shouldn’t have attempted it. I wanted to give you the services you’re entitled to. I don’t want to fail at this job. Not right before my death.”
His stomach turned at the thought. She didn’t know how old she was, but in his mind she couldn’t be more than thirty, and maybe she was even younger.
“I don’t want you doing anything that might cause you pain. I’m responsible for your welfare.”
She nodded, her blue eyes sad as they looked at him. “Okay, sir.”
“Ben. Please call me Ben.”
“I can’t do that.”
He rubbed her hair out of her eyes. “You can. What can I get you? Water? Food?”
“I know it’s very early but I really need some sleep. I’d rather save my meal for tomorrow, if that’s okay?”
His heart broke every time she spoke about her expectations. “Seven, listen to me. While you’re here I’m going to feed you three meals a day. Maybe a snack too, if you want one. I’m in charge, right? You have to do what I tell you, and I’m informing you that despite what Madame says, you will eat a lot here.”
The smallest smile formed on her lips. “Really? I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
He helped her sit up, feeling sorry he had to let her go at all. She was a young woman—and he didn’t care who disagreed, she was, in fact a woman and not an it—and she was in his home. Ben was responsible for her well-being. God help anyone who told him how he was going to care for someone who lived within his walls. No one would abuse her here.
“I won’t get into trouble. I’m a lawyer. You can trust me to know what I can do within the law.” He stood up. “You’re welcome to go to bed. I’d also be glad to feed you.”
“Where should I sleep?” She looked down on the floor and he followed her gaze. Suddenly, he understood what she thought.
“Not on the floor. No way.” He extended his hand and was relieved when she took it. “We have beds in this house. You’ll use one.”
“Thank you.”
The simplicity of her gratefulness made him stop in his tracks. Who might this woman have been if she’d not been Conditioned?
I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. We live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months.
I am in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and try to use all of these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.
In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.
I'd love to hear from you!
